Rail fastening device



Jan. 20, 1959 v H. HODEL 2,869,792

RAIL FASTENING DEVICE Filed Dec. 27, 1954 lVe-fzfor:

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United States Patent O RAIL FASTENING DEVICE Hans Hodel, Engelberg,Switzerland Application December 27, 1954, Serial No. 477,683

Claims priority, application Switzerland January 7, 1954 6 Claims. (Cl.23S-349) Elastic` rail spikes of various types for fixing` rails tosleepers have been known and used in railway permanent way constructionfor a long time. They have proved their worth in practice and this isalso the reason why they are being used to an ever greater degree.

The present invention is concerned with a particular type of suchelastic spikes; it` consists essentially in that the elastic arm of thespike extends along the rail toot in` such manner that-when seen in theplan view-it engages only with its end portion over the said rail footand isthereby subjected to torsional stress.

Further features of the invention will be evident from the claims, thespecification and the drawings, wherein several constructional forms ofthe rail fastening device according to the invention are illustratedpurely by way of example. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side view ofa first constructional form;

Fig. 2 is a front View according to Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a plan view according to Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of a second constructional form;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a third constructional form, and

Fig. 6 is a side view of a portion of a lnodiried` spike.

According to the constructional example shown in Figs. 1-3, the elasticspike consists of a driven-in pin portion l of an elastic arm 3connected thereto, the said arm 3 being bent over at the point 2 andhaving its free end designated as 6. The elastic spike can consist of abent rolled bar of any desired cross-sectional form, advantageously' ofround crosswsectional form. to tix the rail 4 to the support or sleeper5, an elastic spike is driven into the sleeper 5 in the manner shown inthe drawing, the end 6 of the elastic arm 3 pressing the foot 4b of therail 4 downwards on to the support c-r sleeper 5.

Seen in plan view as shown in Fig. 3, the elastic arm 3 extends alongthe rail foot in such manner that it engages only with its short end 6overthe said rail foot and is subjected to torsional and bendingstresses practically over its entire length. A further bend 7 brings theelastic arm 3 to merge into the relatively short end portion 6, whichpresses the rail foot 4 on to the support 5.

According to the constructional example as in Fig. 4, the elastic arm 3,6 can also extend in an are from the point at which the arm end 6contacts the rail foot 4,

so that the elastic arm 3 is subjected to a higher degree of torsionalstressing than the elastic arm according to Figs. l3.

.ln order to obtain an even greater spring distance for the arm 3, theconstructional form according to Fig. 3

is provided, wherein after the drivemin pin portion l..

ln order ice 2 any desired angle relatively to the edge of the rail footother than the angle a shown in Fig. 4.

As will be seen from Figures 3, 4 and 5, the spikes are so driven intothe sleepers 5a that the driven-in pin portion 1 is driven into the edgezone 5c of the sleeper 5, and the elastic armpart 6 which engages over asho-rt length over the rail foot 4 presses the rail on tol the sleeperSa substantially over the centre line 5b of the said sleeper. The resultis thereby achieved that the rail is always pressed centrally on to thesleeper. This has the advantage that the support of the rail on thesleeper corresponds rather to a rocker bearing, especially if anlelastic interlayer is inserted between the rail foot 4 andy the sleeper5. From the permanent way constructional point ot" view this arrangementhas the advantage that the sleeper remains steadier in tlie ballast bed,that is: it rocks less than hitherto known arrangements and consequentlyexerts a more uniform stress on the ballast under the rail and therebyreduces the amount of rail maintenance necessary. The spike can bepositioned between the rail 4 and the sleeper 5' with or without steelsupports.

Theelastic` spike 1, 3, 6 described is of such construction and is soarranged that in order to release the rail 4 from the sleeper 5 thespike need only be partially drawn out and then swung away, when in thisposition, from the rail foot. Therefore the spike does not have to becompletely drawn out of the sleeper in order to release the rail.

instead of using a single` spike in each case in accordance with theconstruction shown in Figs. l and 2, it is also possible to use twospikes in laterally inverted larrangement on one side of the rail foot4, as shown in chain lines in Figs. l, 3 and 4. In this case twolaterally inverted single-pin elastic torsion spikes can be combined toform one single spike, the two single-pin spikes being connected rigidlyto one another to form a two-pin elastic torsion spike by any desiredmeans, e. g. by welding.

As will be seen from the arrangement of two laterally inverted spikes(Figs. l, 3 and 4), they are secured by virtue of their construction andmutual arrangement against unintentional swinging out of the arms 3,thereby securing the fastening device.

The resistance against withdrawal of the elastic tor sion spike may beincreased, especially in the case of soft wood. sleepers, by providingnotches, Fig. 6, along the driven-in pin portion. These notches will beparticularly eilective if arranged in the manner of fish-scales pointingupwards so that, when being withdrawn, they will engage like barbs intothe material of the timber sleepers, Fig. 6.

Said notches may also be arranged in a screw-thread like manner at thecircumference of the pin part. This has the advantage thatwith thedriven-in portion made of round rolled material-the elastic spike, onbeing turned, will automatically engage into the timber sleeper.

Hitherto known single-pin elastic spikes have the disadvantage that theelastic head is only subjected to bending stress and` not to torsionalstress, thus using the material in very nneconornical manner. Moreoverthe known consti-action of elastic heads, which is subjected only tobending stress, has the disadvantage of having only slight elasticity,and therefore the nail must consist of two parts bearing on one anotherin order to obtain the' elasticity necessary in practice. Experiencealso shows that the elastic heads of the known elastic spikes, evenwhere they are of square cross-section, become turned out of positionunder the effect of train running and, therefore aord no securityagainst rail creep.

Elastic spikes with two driven-in pin portions situated some distancefrom one-another are also known. These have the disadvantage that theyalso exhibit little elasticity, and are subjected in the vicinity of thedriven-in pin portions, as in the case of a fixed girder, to negativebending moments which have a drawing-out effect and therefore readilyloosen the spikes.

Moreover hitherto known elastic spikes have the disadvantage that, forexample, when the rails are being replaced, the said spikes have to bewithdrawn completely out of the sleeper, which requires considerableexpenditure of energy. The elastic spikes according to the presentinvention is formed from a rolled bar having generally a roundcross-section, which by its special construction or conguration andarrangement obviates the aforesaid disadvantages.

What I claim is:

1. A rail supporting and fastening means comprising 4. A rail supportingand fastening means according to claim 1, in'which on one and the sameside of the rail flange there are provided two resilient spikes, thesleeper-engaging portion of each spike being driven into a sleeper edgezone so that their depressing ends which are at right angles to the railaxis substantially contact each other so that the two spikes preventeach other from turning about the sleeper-engaging spike portions.

5. A rail supporting and fastening means according to claim 1, in whichthe spring arm is curved from said engaging portion in a directionopposite to the depressing end and subsequently in a further arc to theend portion which is directed at right angles towards the rail axis.

a sleeper, and a resilient spike to contact a flange of the lrelative tothe spring arm, said spike also having a flange engaging portion on theother end of the spike, said 'sleeper-engaging portion of the spikebeing anchored in the sleeper immediately adjacent said rail flange nearthe edge zone of the sleeper, and the spring arm of the spike by meansof its ilange engaging portion clampedly engaging said rail'flange. onthe approximate longitudinal center line of the sleeper and the flangeengaging portion being at approximately right angles to the spring armof the spike.

2. A rail supporting and fastening means according to claim 1, in whichthe spring arm is disposed mainly adjacent the rail flange as viewed ina vertical direction on the rail.

3. A rail supporting and fastening means according to 6. A railsupporting and fastening means comprising a sleeper, and a resilientspike to contact a iange of the rail and driven into the sleeper, saidspike having an integral spring arm with a llange engaging portion onone end of the spike and extending at approximately right angles tothespring arm, said spike having a sleeper engaging pin to be embedded inthe sleeper near onel side edge zone thereof and the flange engagingportion with its free end engaging the flange at the `approximatelongitudinal axis of the sleeper.

claim 1, in which the spring arm is in the shape of a References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,178,478 Kuckuck Oct.31, 1939 2,207,262 Loutrel July 9, 1940 2,299,754 Johnson Oct. 27, 19422,417,385 Tilly Mar. 11, 1947 2,628,035 v Fawcette 2 Feb. 10, 1953FOREIGN PATENTS 141,386 Australia a May 28, 1951 882,409 Germany July 9,1953

